Children's playgrounds survived the swings and roundabouts of the spending review after the Government said it would cut, but not stop, funding.

Playbuilder, launched by Labour to fund new play areas for kids, had
been on hold while the coalition Government considered the future of the
£75m scheme.

The Department for Education said it was lopping almost £21m from
the budget, leaving just over £54m to be divvied up among schools.
"The revised play capital allocations will provide a saving for the
department, reducing the original play capital budget," said a
representative.

"Revised applications have reduced the amount of money for each local
authority, but they are still receiving two-thirds of their
allocations."

Oxford will receive the most (£862,000) and Rutland and the City
London the least (£62,500).West Berkshire will gain just over
£500,000 for projects across several sites. Councillor for
children and families Gordon Lundie said: "This will allow improvements
to 12 play areas as planned. The project teams have been notified."